“sell up”是一个常用的英语动词短语,核心含义是“卖掉全部财产(或生意、资产);清盘”,强调将个人或企业拥有的所有东西一次性处置,通常源于特定原因(如搬家、退休、破产、转行等)。
指彻底变卖所有属于自己的财产、生意或资产,不含保留部分的意思。可通俗理解为“把家当全卖了”“清盘结业”“变现所有资产”。
1、 不及物为主:通常不接直接宾语(因“up”已隐含“全部”),但偶尔可加具体对象(如“business”“house”)强调变卖的内容。
2、 主语:多为人(如业主、个人)或企业/机构(如公司、店铺)。
3、 常见搭配:常与表原因或结果的短语连用(如“move abroad”“retire”“go bankrupt”等)。
通过不同场景的例子,更直观理解其用法:
After losing his job, he had to sell up and move in with his parents.
(失业后,他不得不卖掉所有家当,搬去和父母住。)
We're thinking of selling up and moving to the countryside—city life is too stressful.
(我们在考虑卖掉全部财产,搬到乡下——城市生活太压抑了。)
The café owner decided to sell up after 30 years in the business—he wanted to retire.
(这家咖啡馆老板做了30年后决定卖掉全部生意——他想退休了。)
The small company was struggling, so they had to sell up to a larger competitor.
(这家小公司经营困难,所以不得不把全部资产卖给更大的竞争对手。)
When the factory went bankrupt, it had to sell up all its machinery and equipment.
(工厂破产时,不得不卖掉所有机器设备。)
The restaurant failed during the pandemic and was forced to sell up.
(这家餐馆在疫情期间倒闭,被迫清盘。)
需注意与sell out的区别:
sell out:指“卖完(库存);售罄”(主语多为商品、票券等),或“背叛(原则)”。
例:The concert tickets sold out in an hour.(演唱会门票一小时内售罄。)
sell up:指“卖掉自己的全部财产/生意”(主语是人或企业)。
“sell up”的关键是“全部变卖”,突出“彻底处置所有拥有物”的动作,常用于生活或商业中因各种原因需要“清空资产”的场景。掌握其用法时,重点记住它是“不及物短语”,且隐含“全部”的语义。